London Irish

There has been a lot of negative posts on here lately.
Don't worry it's not all bad news here in Ireland.
On a positive note wee Daniel has left Ireland for the UK, sadly its not permanent though.
Nice odds on him with Paddypower, so I have bet on him to win Strictly Come Dancing.
Snake hips Daniel has the moves to win for sure, not to mention the cult following among menopausal women. Over 10 million albums sold, and an MBE; enough said.
Peter Andre has fans, but they won't pick up the phone and vote come finals night like the wee Daniel faithful.
So fans what do you think?
Are you in camp Daniel or camp Andre?

Just check out the wee Daniel faithful's happy expressions at this gig. Legendary.

scot47

Good to see that we are now focussing on the important things in life.

mikelincs

Carol Kirkwood to win..

London Irish

Agreed.

The Rose of Tralee was a big disappointment this year, very low quality roses.

So one must look forward to bigger and brighter competitions such as Strictly Come Dancing.

I feel it's important to support Irelands patriots, and wee Daniel is a great ambassador for Ireland, and of course his home county of Donegal.

Only 4.6 million in Ireland, and yet he has sold over 10 million albums. Like him or loathe him, the man is no fool.

Georgia May Foote makes it 15 weeks of compulsive viewing in any case.

And if that wasn't enough, the lovely Michelle Keegan is heavily rumoured to be going in too.

Both lovely ladies, and I wish them the best of luck.

Moses2013

So have you started to see the positive now, or are you going back to the UK?

London Irish

I have always seen the positive and negative aspects of emigration.

The point of my posts; are to give potential emigrants to Ireland an insight that isn't sugar coated. Many of the posts on here are from people still on their 2 year honeymoon period; which is positive.
What an emigrant really needs to hear about is reality, both good and bad. Then one can make a balanced appraisal of the reality in Ireland 2015. Somewhere between the sugar coated positivity of honeymooners, and my critique; is the truth. I will leave that up to the emigrants to decide.
You see back in 2009 before I emigrated here in 2010; I used to come on here and read all the positive posts, the sugar coated description of Ireland; and thought it sounds great! I am going to emigrate there.
Had someone posted reality of Ireland 2010, I wouldn't have.
Ireland has its good points, and for the retired with mortgage paid; UK pension, and savings, it's a better place to live than the UK.
But for the middle aged or younger, with children; it's not. Maybe it's no worse, maybe it's the same.
The problem is that it's hard to weigh up a country with 66 million v 4.6 million.
I am going to wait and see the result of the Brexit referendum in 2017 before making any decision.
If the UK does leave the EU, then I would most likely head North again; in order to have the benefits of the UK but without the negatives of the EU.
I don't think at this stage I would go back to England, but the North is a more viable option.
Having lived in England, Northern Ireland, and Ireland; all things considered, the North is the best of them all. The only negative about it was the sectarianism, bigotry, and cultural apartheid that still prevails between Catholic and Protestants there. It will take time for that to fade out more.
I suppose after 30 years of the Troubles, it will take around 30 years of peace since the Good Friday Agreement to reach recovery.
On a positive note, Derry has changed a lot since I lived there for 6 months back in 2000. 15 years later it's much better.
Anyway, as I have said before; there is nothing wrong with emigrating here now in 2015, just make sure you have enough savings to last you the first 2 years without work. By then things may have picked up anyway.

Moses2013

Actually I think Ireland is an even better option for the middle aged and again depends on the individual. Why would the North be a more viable option? If you're in the middle of nowhere, it's exactly the same and try finding a well paid job up North. Because Northern Ireland belongs to the UK, there is absolutely no job investment happening and the few international companies that are based there can't find staff, due to low wages. A Brexit won't happen and if it does just means that it will become even harder for people in the North, because Ireland will be even more competitive. I still don't understand why you are in Carrick on Shannon if everything is so bad. If you want a job, then you need to move closer to a city, just like you would in the UK. Nobody ever said that Ireland is perfect, but you won't get anything free anywhere these days.

London Irish

When I lived in Belfast before, I found it easy to get work. Agreed it wasn't as well paid as say London or Dublin; but my rent was much cheaper there so it balanced out. Food, drink, car tax, car insurance, (free) NHS; etc were all cheaper.
With regard to the Brexit, maybe the UK will remain in the EU. I would like to see it leave, but we will have to wait and see.
I am now thinking of moving to Sligo city centre in the New Year, as there is more work there.
I always liked Carrick, and have a connection as 400 years of my family are from here. The main reason I moved here wasn't that though. In Dublin I was paying 850 per month to rent a 1 bedroom flat, and here my rent is 300 Euro per month. The 550 Euro per month saving on rent attracted me. Its just a shame there is little work here really; but that comes with living in a small town of 4000, compared with a city.
I do like it here, but the lack of work means moving makes sense than staying on the dole somewhere scenic.

Moses2013

It works out different for everyone, but Dublin salaries are a lot higher than in Belfast, so no wonder housing is pricier. There are pros and cons everywhere, but the North is certainly not that much cheaper these days. Certain things might be cheaper, but overall the majority of people are wealthier in the Republic of Ireland and the ones with the least disposable income are close to the border. Sligo is certainly a better option, but again depends what kind of work you are looking for. Alone housing saved me thousands compared to where I was in England (Kent). Include a higher salary, no council tax, bigger house/garden, better air quality and I don't mind paying €30-€40 a month for health insurance, or €100 more for road tax per year.

London Irish

The Household Charge is the same as paying council tax!

Household Charge

Moses2013

UK has one of the highest property taxes in the EU, so a huge difference to what I'm paying here in Ireland.

London Irish

But you said no council tax!

And now you admit you pay property tax here.

Moses2013

Well of course you pay property tax in Ireland, but that is standard all over the world. It's still nothing compared to council tax in the UK and I don't want to mention bedroom tax. At the end of the day we don't have it that bad over here and there are pros and cons in both countries. I still haven't seen anyone starve here and when I look around, people are fat enough and seem to have the shopping trolleys full. It's still first world problems and if people can have more than 3 kids, it can't be that bad.

jonboy

3 kids is a laughably small number, in the poorest countries of the world. The poorer the country the bigger the family. Ireland was like that in the poor times.

Moses2013

3 is a lot these days and especially in Europe. Ireland has one of the highest birth rates in the EU.